Foreign Minister Meets APG-ICRG Delegation

Kathmandu. A joint delegation of the APG-International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) led by APG Secretariat Deputy Executive Secretary David Shannon met with Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal today. The delegation has been on a visit to Nepal since yesterday, Monday, with the objective of technically assisting and evaluating Nepal to get out of the 'Grey List'.

On the occasion of the meeting, the delegation informed Foreign Minister Khanal about the progress and improvements made by Nepal so far in the areas of financial governance, prevention of money laundering, and control of financing for terrorist activities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Furthermore, a briefing was given on the further legal and structural reforms that Nepal needs to undertake in the coming days to completely exit the grey list.

Foreign Minister Khanal thanked the APG-ICRG delegation for the long-standing cooperation and goodwill shown towards Nepal, stating that the government is committed to enhancing Nepal's national capacity in accordance with international standards. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Minister Khanal mentioned that Nepal is working with more determination in the area of preventing money laundering and expressed confidence in exiting the grey list as soon as possible by further strengthening cooperation with the APG.

The Asia Pacific Group is the regional organization of the FATF, an international body related to money laundering. Nepal is also a member of it. The ICRG monitors and reviews countries with weak legal systems in the prevention of money laundering and financial crime. Nepal is under the monitoring of the ICRG. Minister Khanal had said that Nepal is in the process of improving legal matters to avoid this.